CONI KOEPFINGER
As winner of the 2021 Olwen Wymark Theatre Award for encouraging artists worldwide by the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain, Coni Koepfinger believes that creative energy is never lost – it just changes hands and hearts. Currently she is the host of AIRPLAY/ DETERMINED WOMEN, a virtual theatre program in its 13th season that brings the voices of artists, actors, playwrights from all over the world. As adjunct faculty, Coni has taught theatre and composition at Carnegie Mellon, Penn State and Point Park University. Coni considers herself a global personality as Get the Message was performed in 2023 by high school students in the Philippines; she is also a contributing writer for the Center of Conscious Creativity in LA; a Member of The Dramatists Guild, a former board member and committee chair of the International Center for Women Playwrights and the League of Professional Theatre Women. Working with her writing partner Joe Izen, Coni has scribed powerful commentaries on society with Eve of Beltane -a fresh look at political corruption in the face of ancient Celtic mythology which played in the Broadway Bound Festival (2019); Schoolhouse -an ultramodern musical that takes the young victim of a school shooting through a magical journey; and the new age musical, Kingdom Come, where technology meets its match with TED, the world’s first transhuman who falls in love with boss only to reveal a beautiful evolution for humanity, currently being developed by Sia Koskina in Greece. Other productions include Garrett, the Blue Giraffe at Pan Asian Rep’s NuWorks 2019; Takin’ It Back a ten-minute play for THE ME-TOO PROJECT in Harlem; and Playing House a commissioned play on Bella Abzug for UNTOLD STORIES OF JEWISH WOMEN and Playing Fate in the New Blood Series; My Dinner with Mary, which was streamed-live from The Player’s Club in Gramercy Park. Simon Says, won placement in PLAYBILL’S VTF (Virtual Theatre Festival) 2020 and was accepted in Manhattan Rep’s STORIES film competition in 2021; Josie in the Bardo (2022) at The Chain Theatre; The Unusal Chauncey Faust (2023) at the Rogue Theatre Festival; Live from the Bardo (2023) read at The East Broadway Theatre Project; and a showcase of Auditioning for Eternity (2023) at Theater for the New City.
PLAYS:
- Off The Path (LBT)
- SAINTS IN REVOLT: Light from the Dark Ages (GNT)
- TINKERTOWN! — a short musical TYA (With C. Michael Perry) (LBT)
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
From a very young age, I have sought to know how the very process of life works. There is no manual, so I thought maybe I could write one. I’m kidding, but I do enjoy introspection. Perhaps, this is why I am drawn to the art of theatre. I see the action of the universe quite like a play. We use lines at arrive a greater truth. We are given a script and have to make choices for the incidents of the day. We develop relations with other characters and are thrown into or opt out of particular plots. I’d like to propose that just like the players on a stage, we are allotted a set time to tell our story. With theatre, we carefully create a scene that allows the actors to be “on the moment yet know the future”. Unlike life, where the ending can’t be read in advance- the process of theatre can maybe offer a glimpse of how to at arrive at truth by living on the moment. Although I have worked for many years, I am still in the early stages of my career because I have not yet achieved success in my field via major recognition or large financial reward. I would love for my words to reach a wider audience. Still my life has been filled with hundreds of magical moments that offered me much blissful reflection. And I have certainly seen the truth of the bigger picture. That truth? In the end, only kindness matters.